To Reform Social Media, Reform Informational Capitalism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack M. Balkin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
Media Reform

Utopia, Labor, and Informational Capitalism

2015 ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Marco Briziarelli
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Liberal Ideology ◽  
Political Economic

Through the lens of a political economic approach, I consider the question whether or not social media can promote social change. I claim that whereas media have consistently channeled technological utopia/dystopia, thus be constantly linked to aspirations and fear of social change, the answer to that question does not depend on their specific nature but on historically specific social relations in which media operate. In the case here considered, it requires examining the social relations re-producing and produced by informational capitalism. More specifically, I examine how the productive relations that support user generated content practices of Facebook users affect social media in their capability to reproduce and transform existing social contexts. Drawing on Fuchs and Sevignani's (2013) distinction between “work” and “labor” I claim that social media reflect the ambivalent nature of current capitalist mode of production: a contest in which exploitative/emancipatory as well as reproductive/transformative aspects are articulated by liberal ideology.

Mediating Social Media's Ambivalences in the Context of Informational Capitalism

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Briziarelli ◽  
Eric Karikari
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
Liberal Ideology ◽  
Transformative Function ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Mode Of Production

This essay explores the dialectics of media, by considering the socially reproductive and transformative function of social media from a political economic perspective. The authors claim that while media have consistently generated aspirations and fear of social change, their powerful capability of shaping societies depend on the historically specific social relations in which media operate. They engage such an argument by examining how the productive relations that support user generated content practices such as the ones of Facebook users affect social media in their capability to reproduce and transform existing social contexts. In the end, the authors maintain that the most prominent mediation of social media consists of the ambivalent nature of current capitalist mode of production: a contest in which exploitative/emancipatory as well as reproductive/transformative aspects are articulated by liberal ideology.

Mediating Social Media's Ambivalences in the Context of Informational Capitalism

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Marco Briziarelli ◽  
Eric Karikari
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Capitalist Mode ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
Liberal Ideology ◽  
Transformative Function ◽  
Political Economic

This essay explores the dialectics of media, by considering the socially reproductive and transformative function of social media from a political economic perspective. The authors claim that while media have consistently generated aspirations and fear of social change, their powerful capability of shaping societies depend on the historically specific social relations in which media operate. They engage such an argument by examining how the productive relations that support user generated content practices such as the ones of Facebook users affect social media in their capability to reproduce and transform existing social contexts. In the end, the authors maintain that the most prominent mediation of social media consists of the ambivalent nature of current capitalist mode of production: a contest in which exploitative/emancipatory as well as reproductive/transformative aspects are articulated by liberal ideology.

scholarly journals Social Media, Interrupted: Users Recounting Temporary Disconnection on Instagram

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 205630511988169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Jorge
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Lifestyle Choice ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Over Time

This article looks at the discourses of Instagram users about interrupting the use of social or digital media, through hashtags such as “socialmediadetox,” “offline,” or “disconnecttoreconnect.” We identified three predominant themes: posts announcing or recounting voluntary interruption, mostly as a positive experience associated to regaining control over time, social relationships, and their own well-being; others actively campaigning for this type of disconnection, attempting to convert others; and disconnection as a lifestyle choice, or marketing products by association with disconnection imaginary. These discourses reproduce other public discourses in asserting the self-regulation of the use of social media as a social norm, where social media users are responsible for their well-being and where interruption is conveyed as a valid way to achieve that end. They also reveal how digital disconnection and interruption is increasingly reintegrated on social media as lifestyle, in cynical and ironic ways, and commodified and co-opted by businesses, benefiting from—and ultimately contributing to—the continued economic success of the platform. As Hesselberth, Karppi, or Fish have argued in relation to other forms of disconnection, discourses about Instagram interruptions are thus not transformative but restorative of the informational capitalism social media are part of.

“One tweet to make so much noise”: Connected celebrity activism in the case of Marlee Matlin

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ellcessor
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Celebrity Culture ◽  
Online Activism ◽  
Online Activities ◽  
Media Reform ◽  
Star Text

Celebrity activism, online celebrity, and online activism are all growing areas of research, but have received relatively little integration. This article argues that connected celebrity activism deploys social media to forge a variety of connections, enabling activist values to pervade a celebrity persona, reinforcing perceptions of authenticity and recirculating those values to disparate audiences. In the case of Deaf American actor Marlee Matlin, media reform activism serves as a unifying feature, expressed via technologically-facilitated connections between her acting, activist, and online activities, creating a cohesive star text that is seemingly authentic in respect to both Deaf and celebrity identities without being stereotypical. Such centrality and unification via connected celebrity activism stands in contrast to more traditional celebrity activism, and draws upon the specific dynamics of digital media, online activism, and contemporary celebrity culture.

US partisan rifts impede social media reform

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Media Reform

Headline UNITED STATES: Party rifts impede social media reform

Utopia, Labor, and Informational Capitalism

2019 ◽  
pp. 817-836
Author(s):  
Marco Briziarelli
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Liberal Ideology ◽  
Political Economic

Through the lens of a political economic approach, I consider the question whether or not social media can promote social change. I claim that whereas media have consistently channeled technological utopia/dystopia, thus be constantly linked to aspirations and fear of social change, the answer to that question does not depend on their specific nature but on historically specific social relations in which media operate. In the case here considered, it requires examining the social relations re-producing and produced by informational capitalism. More specifically, I examine how the productive relations that support user generated content practices of Facebook users affect social media in their capability to reproduce and transform existing social contexts. Drawing on Fuchs and Sevignani's (2013) distinction between “work” and “labor” I claim that social media reflect the ambivalent nature of current capitalist mode of production: a contest in which exploitative/emancipatory as well as reproductive/transformative aspects are articulated by liberal ideology.

scholarly journals With or Without Marx? With or Without Capitalism? A Rejoinder to Adam Arvidsson and Eleanor Colleoni.

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 633-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Information Society ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Finance Capital ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
The Media ◽  
Corporate Social

This paper is a rejoinder to an article by Adam Arvidsson and Eleanor Colleoni: Arvidsson, Adam and Eleanor Colleoni. 2012. Value in informational capitalism and on the Internet. The Information Society 28 (3): 135-150. Arvidsson and Colleoni’s paper is a criticism of and reaction to one of my own articles: Fuchs, Christian. 2010. Labor in informational capitalism and on the Internet. The Information Society 26 (3): 179-196. My comments focus on 6 aspects of discussion:1) Misunderstandings of Marx2) Autonomous Marxism3) Corporate social media and the law of value4) Capital accumulation on social media5) Finance capital and social media6) Politics, alternatives, and social transformationThe discourse constituted by the two articles and this rejoinder are situated in the context of the digital labour debate that can be considered to constitute an important part of the contemporary discourse of the political economy of the media and the Internet. It is recommended that you first read both previous articles before reading this rejoinder.

scholarly journals Facetten der Debatte über das digitale Arbeiten

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (186) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Sevignani
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
New Media ◽  
Digital Communication ◽  
The Political ◽  
Peer Production ◽  
Commodity Production ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
Production Of Culture ◽  
Use Of Social Media

This article introduces the reader to the so called ‘digital labor debate’ in the context of the political economy of (new) media and (digital) communication. The political economy of social media is best qualified as surveillance-driven production of culture and as an interplay between distinct modes of production (commons based peer production and commodity production). The latter gives rise to the problem of how to understand the interplay between these modes. The article discusses contributions from different theoretical angels, such as the materialist theory of communication, the theory of cognitive capitalism, the theory of prosumption, and the theory of rent in the informational age. The discussion is organized by three topics: Does the use of social media qualify as work? Are users subsumed to capital control? Are users exploited? The article marks theoretical challenges for a critical theory of informational capitalism.

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